Taking a quick break from my book I thought I'd get started on the next story following the awesomeness of Marker. It's a bit of a shorter chapter but one that I hope you guys will enjoy, especially with the introduction of the mysterious Jacqueline, Drake's daughter. How will this family reunion go? Let's find out.
You know the drill. On with the show.
Chapter 1: Jacqueline
Two hours ago
Metal clashed and sparks flew as the lessons taught from the Amazons and the training of a hardened assassin pushed against one another. The pair separated, Donna swinging her sword in a flourish as Rose swung around her duel blades, accepting the challenge. With a battle cry, the Amazon charged, throwing her blade on top of a block Rose placed upward with one of her swords. Swords given to her by her father and created with metal forged in Hell.
The two continued their duel, the skills they've been taught not quite enough to best the other, but gave their audience of one, Terra, some enjoyment, at least at first. After fifteen minutes of sitting back and watching them sword fight, she was beginning to get bored.
By the twenty minute mark she had had enough. With golden eyes she threw up a barrier of earth separating the two, and to her amazement, they both just now seemed to be breathing hard.
"What ...was that...about?" Rose asked between breaths.
Terra clicked her tongue. "Seriously? You two have been at this forever?"
"Please," Donna moved her sweat stained dark hair from her eyes, "that was a mere warmup."
"You can say that again sister." Rose got into a fighters stance, intent on continuing the duel.
Donna gripped the handle of her sword. "Terra, please lower the barrier."
Terra rolled her eyes and waved her hand, causing the mound of earth to vanish, and starting round two. Terra decided to leave the two be and went to retrieve her belongings.
With Jump City being quiet, the three decided to make use of the gym equipment for some training. However it quickly became a sword fighting match between Donna Troy, warrior Amazon, and Rose Wilson, assassin trained by her father, Slade.
A chill ran up her spine at the very thought of his name and she quickly repeated a mantra to herself. One Raven, surprisingly, helped her come up with.
"He's dead. I am my own woman now. I don't have to be afraid." She repeated the words a few times until she felt herself become calm once more. She was hesitant to come to Jump City at first, afraid she wouldn't be able to separate Rose from Slade. Watching her fight, Terra was instantly taken back to those times when he had trained her. She knew all the moves, and the look of sheer determination on Roses face, where failure wasn't an option.
It was the same lessons drilled into her so long ago.
Why did she come here then?
"It will be healing for you, Terra." Raven said over the phone. "You'll see that Rose isn't like her father, and you can face your own demon head on."
Terra once again repeated her mantra. When Robin ordered her and Donna to assist Rose she wasn't sure she'd be able to, and wasn't until a phone call to Raven in San Francisco that she had at least some courage to face it.
She breathed again, feeling the shiver up her spine again, only this time it stretched across her entire body.
She shook from the unexpected cold. "Holy cow. Who turned the air on?" Glancing down at the uniforms she also noticed Rose's discarded communicator. They had all thrown aside their uniforms for casual exercise wear and in the process, their communicators. She grabbed it, noticing some kind of alarm going off and called for Rose.
"Not now!" She groaned back. "Can't you see I'm kicking Amazon ass!"
"Rose! An alarm is going off!" Looking back down to the device, the screen began to frost over. "What in the—gah!" She dropped it when the frost began to freeze her hand. "Uh Guys!"
Rose and Donna finally stopped, but only when the gym was beginning to be coated in a thin layer of ice.
"Uh oh." Rose ran to her communicator. "Oh no. No. No. No. No!"
"What is it?" Donna asked.
"Drake's daughter," Rose answered, "She's awake."
Just then, the lights went out.
—/0\—
With the doors frozen over, Donna used her Amazonian strength to kick them out so the three could leave the gym and get to the medical wing on the first floor seeing as they were in the middle of the Tower. All three had their arms wrapped tightly around themselves, shaking from the cold. Even Rose whose uniform was a full leather outfit.
"S-s-so b-break it d-d-down f-f-for me again?" Terra shivered.
Rose rolled her eyes. "I-I-I already t-t-told you. D-D-Drakes-s-s daughter was-s-s f-f-frozen, now sh-sh-she's awake. I-I-I'm g-g-guessing she f-froze the Tower."
"Then sh-sh-shouldn't the tower be warm-m-m then?" Donna asked.
Rose shook her head. "Her m-m-mom was s-s-some kind of ice queen."
"L-l-like the m-m-m-movie?" Terra wondered aloud.
"I g-g-guess. Are you k-k-k-kidding me?!"
They came to the elevator and as they suspected it was frozen solid, still they hoped that something was still working.
"S-s-so we're taking the s-s-stairs?" Donna moved to the doors beside the elevator and Once again, ripped them open leading them to the staircase. "U-u-up we go."
It took them awhile, but Donna was finally able to pry open the doors to the first floor of the tower. The trio hung a right towards the medical wing, but noises from the kitchen drew their attention in the opposite direction. Confused they headed that way regardless, slowing their pace when they could tell that the noises she had been hearing was someone eating.
Very loud chomping, biting, and slurping.
"S-s-so how d-d-do we wanna d-d-do this?" Donna asked. "It M-m-may be overwhelming to m-m-meet all of us at once."
"I v-v-vote Rose go."
She spun around glaring at Terra. "Why m-me?"
"Uh, c-c-cuz you actually kn-kn-know what's going on here d-d-duh?"
Rose was about to protest, but Terra had a point. Huffing a breath of ice she pressed her back against the slick wall, sliding sideways until she came to the open doors and peered around the corner.
A young woman, dark brown hair, pale skin and dressed in a long ice blue dress was hard at work ravaging the kitchen, eating everything she could get her hands on.
Rose nearly gagged and whispered to herself. "Someone's hungry." Not wanting to frighten her, Rose entered the kitchen with her hands outstretched. However before she could call out, her feet were suddenly stuck to the floor.
To be exact. FROZEN to the floor.
"I heard you coming." She froze the doorway, making sure Donna and Terra wouldn't be bothering them. "So you can drop the sneaky crap." The young girl turned around, chocolate brown eyes narrowed and a piece of meat dangling from her mouth like a cigarette. Her lovely rounded face was twisted into a scowl in an attempt to seem intimidating. Rose fought against the ice that held her in place, but soon it began to creep upwards.
"I'm gonna ask this once." With one gulp she finished the meat that had been dangling from her mouth. "Where. Am. I?"
Rose shook violently from the cold. "T-T-Titans T-T-Tower—"
"Jump City California, home of the Teen Titans." Jacqueline grabbed the sides of her head and screamed, "how do I know that!?"
The ice creeped further up Roses body, this time seemingly out of Jacqueline's control. "You've been as-s-sleep. I-I-I'm not here t-t-to hurt you."
Jacqueline huffed. "Yeah right! The last thing I remember is my home being attacked, being separated from my mother, that red headed bitch cornering me, now I'm in some weird ass place and a chick in leather is telling me she's a friend. That about cover it?"
The ice had covered Rose all the way to the bottom of her chest, keeping her arms pinned to her sides, but she was still able to manage a shrug. "W-w-we'll when y-y-you p-p-p-put it th-th-that way." Jacqueline began pacing, her fingers gripping her hair in frustration. "C-c-c-could we finished this c-c-c-conversation s-s-somewhere warmer?"
Jacqueline glared. "Not until you tell me what happened to my mother, my aunt and uncle and cousins and why the hell am I here!" Rose was about to answer when Jacqueline's head suddenly jerked to the side, seeing Donna and Terra trying to break down the icy wall.
"J-j-just unf-f-freeze everything, a-a-and we'll t-t-talk about this."
Jacqueline's frown deepened as if she hadn't heard what Rose had said. "Maybe they'll be more talkative. Sit tight." Jacqueline slapped her hand over Roses mouth, covering it in ice to keep her from talking. With another wave, the ice wall vanished. "Tell me what I wanna know, or your friend gets iced."
The two Titans entered cautiously. "There is no need for any of this." Said Donna. "Just unfreeze our friend—"
"NO!" Rose groaned behind the icy gag as the ice seemed to constrict around her. Long blade-like icicles emerged from the ice reaching towards them like spears. "WHERE'S MY MOTHER? WHERE AM I? WHERE'S MY FAMILY?"
"Jacqueline Anna Daniels! That is enough!"
Even though the voice was firm and frightening enough to shake the foundation around them, and calmness settled over the kitchen and living area. Jacqueline in particular felt her mixed emotions of fear and anger subtly be replaced with peace, causing the dangerous jagged ice that had formed to vanish. A middle aged woman with curly dark red hair and a long blue dress, stepped from the shadows, whispering gentle, calming words.
"Jackie, calm yourself. Just like I showed you."
Finally. Something that made sense to the poor girl. "Grandma Mal!" She threw herself into her arms, and sobbed relentlessly into her shoulder.
Malundra hushed her, rocking her side to side and patting her head. She glanced at the Titans and motioned to Rose. "Tend to your friend." Instantly the ice that had imprisoned Rose melted away, dropping the girl to the ground with a shivering thud.
They ran to her side, Terra taking her time as she passed Malundra. "Thanks mom." Just then their communicators went off, signaling an incoming craft asking to land.
Jump Cities Titans had returned.
—/0\—
"Ah man!" Cyborg sobbed, "my baby!"
Ryand'r leaned over to his sister. "This is his offspring?"
She shook her head. "No this is the towers computer systems, however Cyborg is very, um, close with his creations." Ryand'r nodded, but was still puzzled, especially when Cyborg fell to his knees, sobbing from both eyes.
Starfire pulled out her communicator when it began buzzing. "What's it looking like Star?" She maneuvered the communicator so that the screen was facing Cyborg. "Oh."
Cyborg sniffled. "It's …. gonna take a while Rob. Though it'd be faster if Drake was down here."
"He's n-n-not g-g-going anywhere!" Rose screamed from the other side.
"Sorry Cyborg." Robin snickered. "But Rose has claimed him for now. Starfire should be able to help you melt the ice though. Once the ice is gone when will we be operational?"
Cyborg huffed. "I'll have a better idea once I get all this ice off. For now the entire tower is shut down."
Robin sighed. "Well at least if anything happens we have our communicators operational. Let us know if you need anything."
Cyborg grumbled under his breath and set to work.
—/0\—
Robin shut off the communicator as he walked into the living room where a dragon had wrapped himself around the freezing Rose. She had cuddled herself as closely as she could to his heated skin, using one of his wings as a blanket.
The ice had vanished from the living area, but it was still frigid, regardless of how hard the summer sun beat against the tower from the outside. Donna and Terra sat on the couch, embracing each other since Rose laid claim to the dragon.
"Sorry guys, It'll take some time."
"So no heat?" Terra asked.
"Oh c-c-come on. You weren't-t-t nearly f-f-frozen to d-d-death."
Drake snorted into her face. "She wasn't going to let you die."
She growled. "J-j-just sh-shut up and spoon with me." He chuckled and laid his head down on the ground complying with her request.
"Where are the witches?" Donna asked.
Drake's head shot up again. "Watch it Amazon."
"Yeah," Terra snapped, "That's my mom your talking about." An uncomfortable silence fell on top of them like an anvil, Drake in particular glaring razor sharp daggers. "Um, sorry. I meant adoptive mom."
Drake narrowed his dragon eyes. "I guess I can't be to hard on you. She was more of a mother to you then she ever was to me."
The silence wasn't as deafening now, but Terra decided to push her luck. "Hey if you think about it, we're kinda, um," knowing exactly where she was going with that, his glare returned, "Nevermind."
"To answer your question," he swung his head towards Donna, "they are on the roof. Malundra is going over the situation with her."
"I th-thought your s-s-spell thingy d-d-did that."
He lowered his head onto the ground again. "It's always better coming from someone you know and trust. Apparently that's Malundra."
Robin ran his hands through his hair, mentally going through anything he may have forgotten once they had gotten back to the tower. Then it occurred to him.
—/0\—
Jacqueline stared blankly off into the horizon, her grandmother's words hovering over her mind like fluttering butterflies. Yes it was hard to accept, but Malundra's unique ability to project emotions was keeping the fragile girl calm.
She had been staring into the abyss for a while now, so Malundra pulled her back to reality. "Jacqueline honey."
She turned around. "I….have so many…"
"I know dear. I know."
"My mom. Aunt Anna? They're ….."
Malundra shook her head. "It has been over a hundred years. I'm sorry."
Jacqueline wrapped her arms around herself, tears pushing against the back of her eyes, but even still Malundra's power continued.
"Why me? Why did… why did they take me?"
"That I do not know. I don't know who or why you were taken."
Jacqueline could sense Malundra spoke the truth, but she didn't want to be the one to tell her grandmother that it was her twin sister that had captured her.
"Why here?" She asked. "Why am I here with these… super heroes?"
It was clear on her face, Malundra was thinking over her next words carefully. "They found you, deep in the mountains of Switzerland. Not knowing what to do, they brought you here and used a spell to help you gather knowledge from over the last hundred years."
Malundra took her by the arms. "You can trust them." Jacqueline knew her grandmother wouldn't lie to her, but that didn't mean she would be quick to trust anyone. Not yet anyways. "One of them is a Dragon Knight."
She snorted a laugh. "Nice try Gran, but I know all the knights are gone. Just like my dad."
Malundra smiled. "Not all of them sweetie."
Jacqueline rolled her eyes, but once again she saw no deceit in her grandmother's eyes. "Your …. serious?" Malundra nodded. Seemingly excited she asked, "Do you think he knows what happened to my father? Wait, probably not, huh?"
Malundra shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt to ask."
—/0\—
Back in the lower levels of the tower, a pale faced Robin stared into the now empty cell.
Vol-Yor had escaped and judging by the slashes and claw marks, they had a huge problem on their hands.
Reminder: Back in the earlier parts of the Titan Knight series it was revealed that Malundra became an adoptive mother to Terra before wiping her memory so that she could be a normal girl. Terra still thinks of Malundra as a mother.
Anyways, being busier these days I'm not sure when I'll update but it will happen, mark my words.
Read review and we'll see ya next time.